Scooby Z
by Ms. Videl Son
Summary: ThreeShot. “Our top news story today: the world’s most beloved daughter, Satan Videl, is still missing.” Post-Buu, GhVi.
1. We’ve Got a Mystery on Our Hands, Gang

**Title:** Scooby Z

OR

Son Gohan and the Case of the Missing Might-Be Girlfriend

**Disclaimer:** Don't I have an honest face? (Or, to be more precise, don't you _think_ I have an honest face? What with not being able to actually see me, 'n all.)  
**Rating:** PG-13 ( T ) – Oh yeah, baby, there's vague references to _nudity_ in this. **n.n  
****Spoilers:** If you haven't gotten at least to the Saiyaman Saga yet...you probably won't have any idea who Videl is. What the hell are you reading this for? Go away!

**Summary:** ThreeShot. "Our top news story today: the world's most beloved daughter, Satan Videl, is _still_ missing." Post-Buu, mild-GhVi.

Yeah, yeah...I'm getting around to KitF. No nagging in your reviews.

(This story is dedicated to dbz-lover91 who never, _ever_ seems to give up hope. **n.n** )

* * *

**Part One:** We've Got a Mystery on Our Hands, Gang

"So...," Gohan began, searching for the words that would sound the most nonchalant. It wasn't a particular skill of his, but that didn't ever seem to prevent him from trying. "What are you doing this weekend?"

Videl smirked at him. "Can't wait 'till Monday, huh?"

Gohan blushed scarlet at her implication. "W-Well...Wouldn't it be more convenient to do it on a Saturday?"

"Maybe," Videl replied, winking at him. "But I've got plans this weekend, sorry."

Gohan slumped his shoulders, intensely disappointed. "Oh..."

Despite their shared ability to fly, the young demi-saiyan was walking Videl home in an adorably old-fashioned manner. Surprisingly, she even let him carry her backpack for her in a display of misogynistic chivalry that she would have normally refused to tolerate from any other guy. When Son Gohan offered to carry her books, however, Videl found it inexplicably cute and charming.

"Hey," Videl said, resting a hand on her escort's bicep (which was about as high as she could reach without stretching). "It's only a couple more days, Gohan-kun. You can wait until then, can't you?"

Gohan replied with a nod and a shy glance in her direction, the color in his face still as brightly red as a cherry tomato. "Yeah...I guess."

Videl smiled at him in praise. "Good! We'll leave right after school, okay? Maybe even earlier, if we can sneak away."

Now Gohan was smiling, too. "Yeah, okay."

As they exchanged the last words of their dialogue, the Satan mansion came into view. Stopping before the front gates, Videl offered Gohan her farewell for the weekend. "'Bye, Gohan-kun. I'll see you on Monday, right?"

Gohan looked down at his feet, grinning, as he said, "R-Right. See you then."

With a cheery wave, Videl swiped her key card through the card reader mounted in brick off to the side of the gates. A series of loud clicks later and the decorative chrome doors swung open to let her in.

"Videl-san, wait!" Gohan called just as she was slipping past the metal bars. She leaned back out to watch him as he stepped closer, holding out her satchel for her to take. "You almost forgot your books. We've got homework this weekend."

Videl fought the urge to laugh as she accepted the bag from him and said, "You're right, we do. Don't want to forget that, do we?"

Gohan's face turned a deeper shade of magenta. "W-Well...midterms are coming up..."

"'Bye, Gohan," Videl told him again, this time blowing him a kiss with two of her fingers. "I'll see you on Monday."

As she shut the gates behind her and began walking up to the front doors of her family's enormous home, Videl made a mental note to get the surveillance footage of the expression of Gohan's face after that last transaction. Turning around now would just spoil the effect...

— — —

"Aww, man...," Videl complained, pulling her white T-shirt up and over her head. She was frowning as she threw it to the floor, disgusted. "I can't _believe_ I did that..."

She grumbled incomprehensible expletives to herself as she proceeded to fully disrobe herself and throw all of her discarded clothing onto the floor in one disorderly pile. Finally relieved of the last few stitches covering her modesty, she polished off the juice she had brought upstairs with her and began thinking about what she would need for the weekend. More clothes, obviously, but what else...?

Crushing the empty can, Videl tossed it into the wastepaper bin next to her desk on her way past. She opened the door to her adjoining bathroom and reached out for her robe just as –

_Tap, tap._

Videl jumped at the noise, startled by its proximity.

_Tap, tap._

It was coming from her balcony!

Wary of anything and everything that sought entrance to her private space through her fifth-floor window (even Gohan and his little brother used the door)Videl dropped into her reflexive fighting stance and turned to face the intruder.

"Hey – Oh, geeze!"

'_Crap!'_

— — —

_The next day..._

Gohan yawned, completely bored. Most Saturdays were dull at the Son house, especially when Goku was off training with Vegeta at Capsule Corps and Goten had Trunks to keep him occupied, but today the lack of activity was _excruciating_. Gohan had been hoping to at least _talk_ to Videl sometime over the course of the afternoon, but she wasn't picking up her cell phone, her communicator watch or even her home extension. Whatever her plans were for the weekend, they certainly excluded outside communication.

Shame...he was going to have one more go at convincing her to forget her obligations and move up their –

"WHERE THE HELL IS SHE? WHERE ARE YOU FREAKS HIDING HER?"

Rolling off his bed with a loud thump, Gohan perked his ears up to listen for any further disturbances to the household peace.

"TELL ME WHERE SHE IS! TELL ME WHERE YOU'RE DELINQUENT SON IS HIDING MY LITTLE GIRL!"

"M-Mr. Satan...?" Gohan mused aloud, climbing to his feet and leaning his head out his bedroom door. "What's _he_ doing here...?"

"FOR THE LAST TIME, _I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT_!"

Gohan quirked an eyebrow in confusion. "Mom?"

Finally leaving his quarters, he trotted down both the hallway and the staircase, searching for the cause of the commotion. It sounded like it was coming from the front door...

When Gohan reached the bottom landing, his eyes widened to twice their normal proportions at the sight he beheld. "M-Mom! What are you _doing_?"

Chi-Chi, from her position on Mr. Satan's back, replied, "He came storming in here shouting about some nonsense – "

"IT'S NOT NONSENSE!" Mr. Satan countered far more loudly than necessary. "I KNOW HE'S HIDING HER AND I WANT HER BACK!"

Hooking her elbow around one of Mr. Satan's ankles, Chi-Chi gave it a hard yank, sneering as he bellowed in pain. "If you insult my Gohan with your ridiculous hogwash _one more time_," Chi-Chi informed him, pressing his face into her spotless floor with the heel of her right foot. "You're going to be _limping_ to your next photo shoot!"

In the background, Goten and Trunks were yelling and whooping encouragement. "Yeah! Give his leg a twist!"

"You can do it, Mommy!"

"It's not ridiculous!" Mr. Satan retorted, his words only slightly muffled against the hardwood flooring of the foyer. "My baby girl is missing and that skinny little bastard you call a son kidnap – ow, ow, ow, _OW_!"

"Ooh! I heard something pop!" Trunks shouted, pointing and laughing from the couch in the adjoining living room.

Goten, who was cheering right alongside him, concurred. "Yeah! Look, his eyes are getting all swirly!"

Chi-Chi relaxed her hold on Mr. Satan's leg when it appeared he was about to black out. She lowered it slightly so that his knee almost touched the ground, but maintained a firm hold on it just in case he needed to be taught another lesson. "Don't you slander my baby, you big fame-stealing buffoon! It should be _my_ Gohan's face on breakfast cereal boxes, not your ugly mug!"

Recovering (slightly) from his initial shock, Gohan leapt forward and began prying his mother's hold from Mr. Satan's bent-backwards leg. "Mom! Let _go_!"

"Aww...," Goten and Trunks both lamented in unison. "You're no fun, Gohan!" the lavender-haired half of the duo accused.

Goten agreed wholeheartedly, puckering his lower lip in a pout. "Yeah! I wanted to see Mommy hit him with the chair next..."

Chi-Chi relinquished Mr. Satan reluctantly, knowing well and good that if Gohan forced her no one would be happy (those Saiyan men could never control their strength very well). She also allowed him to help her up, but struggled as he tried to place himself between her and her gargantuan adversary. "No one insults my Gohan and gets away with it!" she shouted, clawing in the general direction of Mr. Satan's eyes. "Especially not some poodle-haired, overblown, pompous ass who – "

Mr. Satan, who had escaped to a corner to cower in fear, suddenly objected; "_Who's_ got poodle hair?"

Before anyone could start fighting again, Gohan demanded to know, "What's going on around here? Somebody start explaining!"

"As if you didn't know, boy!" Mr. Satan accused, leaping to his feet to point a finger in Gohan's direction. To make the moment extra dramatic, he paused before saying, "Videl is _missing_ and you're the one who took her!"

Gohan was numb for a full thirty seconds before the horror officially began to creep into his system. "Wh-What? Videl-san is..._missing_?"

"_No_!" Goten shouted from the living room, his voice cracking as tears began to sprout in his eyes. "What happened to 'Nee-chan?"

Chi-Chi had stopped struggling to get around Gohan at Mr. Satan's proclamation. "What do you mean 'missing'? My future daughter-in-law wouldn't be taken so easily!"

Mr. Satan's face contorted into an unreadable expression. "Future – ?"

Gohan stepped away from his mother and grabbed Mr. Satan by the front of his training gi, his initial shock fading away into fearful panic. "Worry about that later! Tell me what happened to Videl-san!"

The physically larger man struggled in Gohan's powerful grip, but couldn't break free. "Don't pretend that you don't know about it, boy! It's been all over the news since last night! Don't you people watch TV?"

"We don't have one," Goten offered helpfully, sniffling as Trunks patted him on the back. "Mommy says it disrupts our studies and kills brain cells." ( 1 )

"Well, that's stupid," Mr. Satan retorted, scoffing. "_I _watch ten hours of TV a day and there's nothing wrong with – "

"Would you just tell us what happened to Videl-san?" Gohan shouted, backing Mr. Satan up into the wall. The plaster cracked around the new indentation formed around his body.

Shaking his head to regain his bearings, Mr. Satan admitted, "Well...I don't know, exactly. She went missing while I was taking my nap..."

The numbness was back causing the material of Mr. Satan's clothing to slip through Gohan's fingers. The older man's feet touched the floor once again as the eldest demi-Saiyan began to feel helpless and vulnerable...

"Don't you prehistoric freaks have a neighbor or something with a TV?" Mr. Satan asked, rubbing the swelling bump on the back of his head.

"We have a _radio_," Chi-Chi snapped, seething at Mr. Satan as she moved around Gohan to get to the kitchen. The World Champion moved out of her way as she passed him, pressing himself back into the impression his short quarrel with Gohan had left in the wall.

A few moments later, she reappeared with a small hand-held radio that was labeled, "for Mozart and emergencies only." When she flipped it on, a classical music score came out of it, but was quickly replaced with static and a random mixture of rock 'n roll, jazz and oldies. Chi-Chi finally stopped on a news station, which was currently spouting a commercial for Satan Flakes.

Soon, the serious baritone of the newscaster announced, "Our top news story today: the world's most beloved daughter, Satan Videl, is _still_ missing. The police of Satan City are absolutely baffled about who could possibly have abducted the only child of the World Champion, but claim that they have some promising leads as to her whereabouts."

After a short pause, the anchorman continued: "All current reports agree that Videl-san was last seen at around three-thirty yesterday afternoon by the family chef. She stopped by the kitchen to get a drink and then left, apparently to go up to her room. At around six, one of the household servants entered her room to announce that dinner was on the table and found her missing. Spotting the clothes she had worn that day on the floor covered in blood, the servant immediately called for Mr. Satan and then the police."

"Oh, goodness...," Chi-Chi exclaimed, pressing a hand to her mouth in disbelief.

Gohan felt the power deep within him begin to flicker as the information was absorbed and filed away in his memory, but managed to hold himself in check so that he could listen to the full report. The difficulty of doing so was making his balled fists shake.

"Immediately before her disappearance," said the anchorman. "Videl-san was said to have been in the company of one of her classmates, a 'Son Gohan-san,' who has been known to follow her out of class whenever she is called upon by the police to help apprehend difficult suspects. Fellow students call his behavior 'odd' at best and, at worst, 'stalkerish' and claim to be worried about his obsessive and spurned behavior towards Videl-san. For now, Son Gohan-san is not a suspect, but the police consider him a person of interest in their investigation. If you have any knowledge as to the whereabouts of either Videl-san or Son Gohan-san, please call your local precinct hotline. Operators will be standing by.

If either Saiyaman or the Golden warrior is listening to this broadcast, the world begs you to help bring the culprits in Videl-san's disappearance to justice! Please, go to the Satan City police department for more information on the case. Your efforts would be greatly appreciated. In other news – "

Once the story of interest had finished, Chi-Chi shut off the radio. In the ensuing silence amongst Gohan and his kin, Mr. Satan pointed at the teenaged member of the group with the same accusing finger and shouted, "You _see_, boy? They're on to you! There's no way for you to escape!"

Feeling his facade of control beginning to crack, Gohan yelled right back at the pompous idiot of a World Champion. "I didn't do anything to Videl-san! I walked her home from school, that's _all_!"

"Oh?" Mr. Satan queried, propping his fists against his hips. "Did she _know _that you were walking her home from school? Or were you _stalking_ her?"

"I don't need to stalk her!" Gohan countered, feeling his chi begin to leak through his weakly-constructed barriers. "We're...we're kind of...," he trailed off, blushing. It was stupid, being embarrassed over his relationship with Videl at a time like this. "Look, I don't need to _stalk_ her to spend time with her! She's been my friend for almost a year now."

After building up enough courage (or, at the very least, allowing his stupidity to get the better of him), Mr. Satan poked Gohan in the chest. "Oh? I'll bet you think that you're _more_ than friends, don'tcha? I'll bet you think that Videl – "

Glaring like he was in battle-mode, Gohan stretched himself to his full, impressive height. Even then, he was only slightly taller than Mr. Satan. "What difference does it make right now? Shouldn't we be out there looking for Videl-san?"

"That's what I'm doing!" Mr. Satan shouted, poking Gohan again. This time, he must have done it too hard because he pulled his hand back and began rubbing his afflicted digit tenderly (which isn't as dirty as it sounds). "All that's left is for you to tell me where you've hidden her!"

"I DON'T HAVE HER!"

Chi-Chi, changing places with her son as the reasonable one of the family, stepped in between Gohan and Mr. Satan as the former's clear aura of chi began to surround his body. Though she tried to push them both back a few steps, she only managed to budge Mr. Satan (who, in part, moved voluntarily). "Everyone just _calm down_! We're not helping Videl-chan by standing around and arguing with one another. Gohan, why don't you put on your costume and go to the police department like they suggested on the radio? I'm sure you'll be able to get more information there."

Gohan forced himself to power down and the crystalline chi flames were reabsorbed into his body. His eyes still had that hard battle edge, though. "Fine."

"We want to help, too!" Goten shouted, scrambling over the top of the couch to run to his brother's side. When he reached Gohan, he began tugging insistently on his pant leg. "Please let us help you find 'Nee-chan! We want to fight the bad guys who took her!"

Trunks, only a couple of paces behind, jerked on Gohan's hand from the opposite side. "Yeah, let us help! Maybe we could split up and look for clues!"

Forcing the best smile that he could under the circumstances, Gohan patted his brother on the head. "Fine, squirt, but don't go off looking for her on your own. You have to do what I tell you, okay?"

Nodding enthusiastically, Goten replied, "Yeah! We'll do whatever you say, 'Nii-san! Right, Trunks-kun?"

The elder youngster replied with a simple, "Yeah!"

"Hold on, hold on!" Mr. Satan broke in. "Who says that I'm letting you out of my sight, boy? I still think that _you're_ the one behind this so don't think that I'm not onto you! I'll follow you around until you lead me to my baby girl!"

Reforming the frown on his face, Gohan declined to argue. "Fine, but stay out of my way."

Gohan reached up to press the special red button on the side of his watch and, in mere seconds, he was Saiyaman, the universally acknowledged hero of the world second only to Mr. Satan and his missing daughter. "Let's go."

— — —

**Footnotes:**

( 1 ) Yeah, I know Goten mentions seeing superheroes on TV in one episode, but I figure he could be watching them at Trunks' house. Chi-Chi seems the type to disallow "the box" in her house.

—

**Author's Notes:** Yeah...I'm on a DBZ binge right now and thought up a new story. This is basically meant to be funny (even if this chapter's kind of intense right near the end), so don't take anything to seriously.

In case anyone's wondering where Mr. Buu is during this interaction, that'll all be explained in the next chapter (which you'll get a week from now, Muahahaha...)

Oh, and I'm using "-san" for everyone but Mr. Satan because, even in the Japanese version, he's called "mister." It's part of his original stage name, apparently.

Btw, this is going to be a ThreeShot, so don't get your hopes up for a long continuation. It ain't happenin'. I've got enough troubles trying to update KitF (which, yes, I'm doing my best to edit/update soon, so don't ask). By the time you read this chapter, the entire story will have been completed and self-edited, so don't worry about updates.

I think we can all agree when I say: Ruh-oh Raggy!

Oh, and I was looking through old reviews earlier and I noticed that several people asked me about my little tagline (as seen below my signature). I always thought the meaning was pretty obvious, but...well, maybe not **n.n; **I mean, I was the one who wrote it, so what the hell do I know? (This is where impartiality as readers comes in.) If you're confused, just mention it in your review. I'll add a little explanation at the end of the next chapter either way, but I'd like to know what kind of statistics I'm dealing with here...

For those of you who are wondering why I add it in the first place, it's just something I do for all of my favorite pairings. I've got them for SasuHina (Naruto), MirKag (InuYasha) and IshiHime (Bleach -- different profile), too.

_**. ( . Ms Videl Son . ) . **_

– _Who's your daddy? GohanVidel_

—

_**Next Chapter...**_Collecting clues...unraveling the mystery...is it blood?


	2. Let’s Split Up and Look for Clues!

**Title:** Scooby Z

OR

Son Gohan and the Case of the Missing Might-Be Girlfriend

**Disclaimer:** Don't I have an honest face? (Or, to be more precise, don't you _think_ I have an honest face? What with not being able to actually see me, 'n all.)  
**Rating:** PG ( K ) – Oh yeah, baby, there's vague references to _nudity_ in this. **n.n  
****Spoilers:** If you haven't gotten at least to the Saiyaman Saga yet...you probably won't have any idea who Videl is. What the hell are you reading this for? Go away!

**Summary:** ThreeShot. "Our top news story today: the world's most beloved daughter, Satan Videl, is _still_ missing." Post-Buu, mild-GhVi.

Jinkies! What a mystery.

(Still dedicated to dbz-lover91, who might take her place at my side as co-author in the near future. Muwahahahaha...!)

* * *

**Part Two:** Let's Split Up and Look for Clues!

"Slow down, boy! I can barely hear anything with all this wind!" Mr. Satan shouted, pulling the cell phone only slightly away from his face.

Gohan ignored him and sped up, ever-so-slightly tempted to drop the annoying git somewhere deep in the uninhabited mountain range they were currently flying over. He nixed the idea, however, because such an act would probably make Videl angry at him (once he found her, of course). Besides, it would have been completely out of character.

"I said slow do – UGH! I just swallowed a bug!"

Smirking a little, Gohan decided that karma was real after all.

"I can't slow down; we've wasted enough time as it is," the demi-Saiyan explained.

"_I _wanted to take my jet, but _noooo_...," Mr. Satan continued to complain, gesticulating so wildly with his hands that he nearly knocked Gohan's sunglasses off his face.

Gohan, becoming more and more exasperated by the passing second, snapped, "I already told you; I'm faster than any jet."

"Sure you are, boy," Mr. Satan scoffed, returning to his cell phone conversation. "Mr. Buu? Right, as I was saying, there's been a change of plans. Meet two kids at the mansion – Gounks and Toten – "

"_Goten_ and _Trunks_!"

"Yeah, whatever, Goten and Trunks will be there soon. They want to look through Videl's room for more clues – not that they'll _find_ any – and I want you there to make sure those little kleptos don't take anything!" he reported finally.

Gohan really, _really_ wanted to drop him now.

"Okay – yeah – no, cookies later – see you," Mr. Satan completed his conversation by flipping his phone closed. "Okay, he'll be there soon. I sent him to go look for Videl in the shopping district."

"Good, let's hope they find something useful in Videl-san's room. We'll need all the clues we can get," Gohan replied, neglecting to mention that, in all the time he had known her, he hadn't _ever_ seen her in the shopping district (not when she wasn't fighting crime, anyway).

The pair must have been an odd sight as they flew over Satan city; Gohan, decked out in the Saiyaman costume he had worn to the Budokai the previous year (minus the cape), was dangling Mr. Satan below him by the armpits. He had tried ferrying the gargantuan man on his back, but found the position far too awkward (in more ways than one).

Mr. Satan wasn't a particular fan of this method, but the fear of being left behind and allowing Gohan (whose innocence he wasn't entirely convinced of) to go off and find Videl all by his lonesome was a powerful enough motivator for the Hero of the World to put aside his pride and allow himself to be carried like a bag of garbage. He was assured that they'd reach the city in about ten minutes, anyway.

The boys were off in a slightly different direction as they were bound for the Satan mansion and had only just split away from Gohan and his passenger in the past few minutes. Mr. Buu, of course, was to meet them there and keep an eye on them while they searched for clues in Videl's room.

Meanwhile, Gohan and Mr. Satan were on their way to the police station to see what kind of evidence the police had collected on behalf of Videl's case. With any luck, it would be handed over to them and the investigation would be carried out with much more efficiency.

Upon Mr. Satan's request, Gohan lowered him down slowly to the roof of the police station where fewer people would see him arrive in such a humiliating fashion. The demi-Saiyan could sympathize with the desire to be incognito while touching down in the city, and so had honored Mr. Satan's desire.

"Remember, call me 'Saiyaman' while we're inside," Gohan reminded his companion as he held the stair doors open for him.

Mr. Satan waved him off. "Yeah, yeah kid, I get it..."

"Maybe_ I _should do the talking," Gohan muttered, his trust in the World Champion somehow less than solid.

"Don't be stupid," Mr. Satan replied. "The whole _world_ trusts me! _You_, on the other hand, are the main suspect!"

"Not as Saiyaman, I'm not," Gohan reminded him, slumping down the steps. "And I've told you already; I don't have any idea what happened to Videl-san. If you want to find her, you'll need my help."

"Only because _you _know where she's been hidden, _Mr. Saiyaman_!"

It was like talking to a brick wall. An extra stubborn one. "Fine, but even if that's true then you're going to need me out of jail to find her. Either way, you need my help."

Mr. Satan was quiet for a few seconds (a rarity in itself) before saying, "I never _said _I was going to turn you in. You're more likely to slip up when being interrogated by a master...erm...questioner guy like me."

Behind his sunglasses, Gohan rolled his eyes. "Whatever you say..."

They reached the third floor – the high profile case department – and opened the stairwell door. Immediately, there was an uproar.

"Saiyaman is here!"

"Oh, thank goodness, it's Saiyaman!"

"And Mr. Satan! They've teamed up to find Videl-san!"

Before Mr. Satan could start his posing routine, Gohan used his best superhero-ish voice to call attention to himself; "That's right, citizens! Saiyaman is on the job! Who might I talk to about the disappearance of Videl-san?"

Dozens of helpful fingers pointed to the door that said "Captain" on it.

"WAHAHA!" Mr. Satan laughed, finally granted opportunity to throw in his two cents. Flashing a victory sign, he shouted, "Now that _I'm_ on the job, Videl is as good as found! With my trusty assistant on hand, we'll bring her home safely within the next twenty-four hours!"

Gohan strode towards the police captain's office with a sense of purpose, leaving Mr. Satan surrounded by a swarm of grateful cops. Basking in undeserved glory was best saved for leisure time, he thought.

"Excuse me, Captain?" Gohan announced, still utilizing his deep-throated hero voice as he opened the door. "I'd like to speak with you about the disappearance of Videl-san."

Looking up, the captain jumped in surprise. He quickly pushed his chair back and leapt up to greet the city's hero, hand outstretched in welcome. "Saiyaman! Thank goodness you're here. And I see you've brought Mr. Satan with you! Wonderful, wonderful...I'm sure that Videl-san is safe in your capable hands!"

"Yes, yes," Gohan agreed quickly, shaking the captain's hand. "I'd really love to see the evidence you have regarding this case. I heard that there was some clothing collected...?"

"Yes, absolutely," the capain agreed, pulling his hand back so that he could return to his desk. Picking up five individual bags, he carried them across the room and held them out to the disguised Gohan. "Here are the clothes that we found on her bedroom floor. According to both the chef and the butler, these are the clothes that Videl-san was seen wearing all day yesterday."

Gohan received the bags with both hands and inspected them. On top was a baggy white shirt with purple sleeves, stained across the chest and abdomen with a large splotch of something red, and underneath a pair of dark bicycle shorts, which also appeared to be damp (if the condensation on the inside of the bag was any indication, at least). Yes, these were definitely the clothes Gohan had last seen her in...

Gohan squeezed the bags tight in clenched fists, the disturbing evidence making the situation all the more real and terrifying. Could the stain on Videl's shirt be...blood?

Putting that thought aside for the moment, Gohan swapped the bags around in his hands so that he might get a better look at what was in the other three. The next bag was a pair of white socks – utterly indistinguishable from every other pair Gohan had ever seen her wear, but surely hers nonetheless – and the fourth one he nearly dropped; it was her _bra_. It was white and simple – probably more suited for function than fashion – but it was _still_ a piece of Videl's lingere. Despite knowing that he was there to help her, Gohan felt guilty viewing (and _touching_) what would otherwise be the forbidden.

Gohan was sure that the captain was looking at him strangely as his face began to heat up. "Th-These were also found on V-Videl-san's bedroom floor...?"

"Yes," the captain replied, forking a quizzical eyebrow at the superhero standing in his office. "The panties, too."

The fifth bag, which Gohan could barely stand to look at, claimed the aforementioned panties as its contents. They happened to be white, too, but were adorned with a tiny pink ribbon centered beneath the waistband. They were unexpectedly...cute considering Videl's usual distaste for anything girly. Maybe what they said about all girls secretly wanting to feel pretty was true after all...?

Gohan was 110 percent sure that he was blushing like a madman.

"GIVE ME THOSE!"

Gohan jumped as the bra and panties were jerked forcefully from his hands by an enraged Mr. Satan. He willingly gave up the forbidden goods, but held onto the rest of Videl's clothes (they were the real evidence, anyway; the bra was only slightly splotched by whatever the shirt was covered in and the panties seemed perfectly clean aside from the knowledge that they had been worn the day before).

"I bring you here to help and you're oogling my baby's underpants? I should have you arrested!" Mr. Satan threatened, hiding the precious items behind his back where he was certain that the perverted boy couldn't see them. Assuming he didn't have X-Ray vision, or anything (he didn't, right?).

"I d-didn't do anything," Gohan countered, his voice cracking (the "hero voice" was long gone). "They were found with the rest of Videl-san's clothes."

"Don't think that I'll let you touch my little girl's underclothes just because – "

"A-_hem_."

Both heroes turned to look at the captain.

"Saiyaman, Mr. Satan, Videl-san requires your full cooperation with one another if she is to survive this ordeal," he began, fixing each individually with a stern look. "That means that you should put your petty squabbles away for now and focus on finding her. Sadly, this police force is...ill-equipped to handle this case, so we must leave this duty up to the two of you. God speed."

Gohan, inspired by the speech, smiled at the captain. "Yes, sir."

"You're right," Mr. Satan admitted, shuffling his feet. "But I'm still holding on to the underpants..."

"Whatever," the captain replied, walking around to the opposite side of his desk again to take a seat. "Please, do your best. We would hate for Videl-san to be harmed; she's a dedicated individual and an asset to the force."

"Yeah," Gohan agreed, his smile brightening ever-so-slightly. "Well...we'll get going, then."

"Oh, one more thing," the captain said, calling their attention back to himself. Both men turned to look at him as he finished his thought, "if you happen to see Son Gohan anywhere, please bring him to the police station. The men would like to...have a word with him about Videl-san's disappearance. At your convenience, of course." He finished his statement with a cheerful smile.

Gohan shivered a little. (Weren't there supposed to be laws against police brutality? He suddenly felt a tiny bit sorry for the criminals locked away with the boys in blue...)

"Uh...right...we'll, um, do that...," he said, backing slowly out the door, evidence in hand.

Mr. Satan said nothing, but followed Gohan out with a self-satisfied smirk on his face. "See? Told you..."

— — —

"Trunks-kun, have you found anything yet?" Goten called to his searching companion from under the bed.

Somewhere off to the left, Trunks replied, "Not yet, Goten! Hey, no fair! This gaming system doesn't come out for _three months_!"

Sneezing away a dust bunny, Goten crawled out from underneath Videl's queen-sized mattress, having found nothing at all. "Nothing here...maybe the police got it all?"

Trunks, emerging from deep within one of Videl's closets, scoffed at the suggestion. "Yeah, right. The police in this city are supposed to be pretty useless...Why else would they let a teenaged girl and a dorky superhero do all their dirty work for them?"

Goten frowned at the lavender-haired Saiyan princeling. "'Nii-san's not dorky!"

Trunks snorted, but didn't respond to that. "I'm gonna go check her other closet (also a walk-in; Trunks wasn't so sure that his family was the richest in the world anymore). You look in her desk."

"What should we tell Mr. Buu to do?" Goten asked, looking to the rotund pink blob sitting in the corner of the bedroom. He was snacking on Videl's previously hidden stash of cookies, completely unconcerned with the mission.

"Yum, yum!" he cried every so often, chowing down with both hands.

"Just leave him!" Trunks shouted from Videl's second closet. "He'll just get crumbs everywhere, anyway."

"Okay...," Goten said, warily taking his eyes off of Mr. Buu so that he could complete his assignment.

Scrambling over to Videl's desk, Goten peeked into the trash bin first. Nope, nothing; just an empty can of juice (mm, cranberry!).

Next, Goten decided that rifling around on the surface of the desk would be the logical place to look. All he found was paper, paper and more paper, most of which had algebraic scribbling on it. "Wow, she's pretty bad at math...," he commented, looking over a page with his tongue sticking out the corner of his mouth. Though the youngest Son hadn't had the same intense educational training as the elder, he could still do everything up to pre-calculus without_ too_ many mistakes. "She's good at English, though," he announced cheerfully, waving around a paper with a bright red A stamped across the top.

"Goten! You're supposed to be looking for clues, not grading her homework!" Trunks shouted as things started flying out of the closet at an alarming rate. Pretty soon, Videl's floor was piled high with books, shoes, workout equipment and various nicknacks (what was her obsession with bejeweled, rainbow-hued figurines of his dad about, anyway? Did all teenage girls keep naked – if gender-unspecific – likenesses of their boyfriend's sparring partners in their closets?) ( 1 ).

"Sorry!" Goten called back, setting the papers back down in the neater stacks than he had found them.

The stapler, desk lamp, pencil holder and multi-colored writing utensils were of no help, either. Well, drawers next.

"There's nothing really in here, either," Trunks lamented from the closet. "But a bunch of her clothes are missing. I already checked the hamper and it's empty, so where did they all go...?"

"Maybe she used them up?" Goten suggested, pulling open the first drawer for a peek inside. "Mommy buys me new clothes a lot when I get them all dirty and torn. 'Nee-chan fights crime with 'Nii-san so she probably has to do the same thing, right?"

There was a short pause in which Trunks didn't reply. "...Maybe."

The first drawer yielded no clues, just a framed picture of Gohan and a notebook covered in funny little doodles that said "Son Videl" and little hearts all over it. Weird.

The second drawer was far more interesting. Goten had to reach _way_ far into the back, but he eventually pulled out a long, plain box that looked like something his mother kept her jewelry in. When he opened it, Goten discovered that it contained a watch.

"Trunks-kun, look at this!" Goten called, taking the watch out of its box and holding it up for a better look. It looked really familiar, somehow, and had the Capsule Corps logo on the face.

Trunks poked his head out of the closet. "What is it, Goten?"

"I found something!" he replied, holding up the watch for Trunks to see.

Strolling over to his search partner, Trunks took the timepiece from Goten to get a better look at it. Surprised, Trunks' eyes widened to the size of small dinner plates as he said, "Goten...do you know what this _is_?"

"Yum, yum, yum...," said Mr. Buu from the corner, chomping down on another cookie.

— — —

**Footnotes: **

( 1 ) In case anyone's not sure what I'm talking about, I'm referring to Troll Dolls, a fad from the late '80s/early '90s. Ugly-ass little things that supposedly granted wishes...I was never terribly into them, but I had a friend who was. They sure look like dear ol' Veggie-chan, though...hehe

—

**Authors Notes:** Whew...Part Two done. Just one more to wrap this bad boy up and we can call it a day! **n.n**

I kinda wanted Mr. Buu to have more of a role in the story, but I think it's more fun for Goten and Trunks to take the sleuthing spotlight. (Btw, you'll find out what the watch is in the next chapter...if you haven't figured it out already, of course. I made it pretty obvious, huh?)

Who wants to venture a guess as to Videl's fate, huh? Has she been kidnaped? Did she run away? Is it all completely innocent...?

Before anyone tells me that Goten is as stupid/big a slob as Goku, there's really no proof of that in the series (that I can remember; I could be wrong, for all I know, but I don't think I am). The way I figure it, he's got to get at least a FEW qualities from his mother, hence the little scene with him checking out Videl's desk.

Nobody seems to really like this story much, but...oh, well. I tried my best and that's all I can do. Either way, readers are guaranteed one more chapter before I call it quits for good.

Stay tuned for the next episode of...Scooby Z!

(And, yes, I AM going to use the "meddling kids" line in the next chapter. Watch out for it!)

_**. ( . Ms Videl Son . ) .**_

– _Who's your daddy? GohanVidel_

NOTE: For those of you who admitted to being curious about the meaning behind my little tagline, here it is: it's all about the irony of Gohan and Videl's (particularly the latter's) parentage. Y'know, the whole Mr. Satan took Gohan's credit for beating Cell while it was actually Gohan and how Goku is thereal (_supposed_ --; )hero of the series...It makes sense to me, at least.

—

_**Next Chapter...**_loose ends are tied up...there's a bit more forced male bonding...and, yes, we get to find out what the hell happened to Videl!


	3. Unmasked!

**Title:** Scooby Z

OR

Son Gohan and the Case of the Missing Might-Be Girlfriend

**Disclaimer:** Don't I have an honest face? (Or, to be more precise, don't you _think_ I have an honest face? What with not being able to actually see me, 'n all.)  
**Rating:** PG ( K ) – Oh yeah, baby, there's vague references to _nudity_ in this. **n.n  
****Spoilers:** If you haven't gotten at least to the Saiyaman Saga yet...you probably won't have any idea who Videl is. What the hell are you reading this for? Go away!

**Summary:** ThreeShot. "Our top news story today: the world's most beloved daughter, Satan Videl, is _still_ missing." Post-Buu, mild-GhVi.

Zoinks! An extra-long last chapter. (_And_ posted early! Lucky, lucky you...)

(Okay, dbz-lover91, it's the last chapter. No more dedications...for now.)

* * *

**Part Three:** Unmasked!

"It _can't_ be blood," Gohan decided with finality, holding Videl's stained shirt up for a proper look. "The consistency and color is all wrong."

Mr. Satan, who was squatting directly behind him, leaned over Gohan's shoulder for a peek of his own. "Are you sure...?"

Bringing the fabric up close to his nose, Gohan took a sniff. It smelled soft and musky, like Videl, and...was that artificial sweetener? Certain that Videl couldn't (or, at the very least, _wouldn't_) have been wearing perfume, Gohan's opinion on the subject was solidified. "Positive. I think it's cranberry juice."

While they waited for Goten and Trunks at the previously assigned regrouping spot on the outskirts of Satan City, Gohan and Mr. Satan were going through the newly acquired evidence together. The first order of business, of course, was to determine what the red, "blood-like" substance on the front of Videl's shirt was.

"Videl-san stopped by the kitchen on her way upstairs after she got home, right?" Gohan asked, tilting his head as he held the shirt back again for a better vantage. "The radio said something like that."

Mr. Satan rubbed his chin in the thoughtful way that he'd seen smart people do dozens of times. "Uh, yeah...," he agreed, though he really had no idea what the boy was talking about. "I guess that sounds right."

"Well, it's possible that Videl-san spilled juice on her shirt and decided to change. I mean, there was no obvious sign of struggle in the room, was there?" Gohan looked to Mr. Satan for an answer.

The bumbling World Champion shook his head to the negative effect. "No...I saw the room myself and nothing was disturbed. The only thing out of the ordinary was the clothes on the floor."

"At least this means that Videl-san probably wasn't hurt when she left," Gohan said, slumping his shoulders in intense relief. "And she probably just changed clothes instead of...er, having them _removed_." Geeze, even that sounded awful...

Mr. Satan, finding logic (and hope) in this deduction, also breathed a sigh of relief. So his baby girl hadn't been raped and mutilated in her own bedroom...that was definitely good.

"Problem is, this doesn't get us any closer to finding her," the disguised demi-Saiyan lamented, folding the shirt tenderly and putting it back in its plastic bag.

"No, but it's something," Mr. Satan replied, having basically (and finally) discounted Gohan as a suspect. All thanks to his superior powers of deduction, of course; the way Mr. Satan figured it, there was no way that a country bumpkin like Son Gohan would have the stones to kidnap a girl and – were he to do so – probably wouldn't know what to do with one once he got her alone, anyway. "We know that she's not hurt!"

Even through the glasses and head covering, it was obvious that Gohan was still very distressed, despite knowing that the stain on Videl's shirt was an innocent spill. "No, we just know that she wasn't hurt _before_ she was taken. If something's happened since then...," Gohan trailed off, grinding his teeth.

Unwilling to give up on his optimism, Mr. Satan pounded Gohan on the back with a grin on his face. Wincing, he withdrew the now throbbing appendage as he said, "C'mon, boy. My little angel is good at taking care of herself. I'm sure she'll be okay until we can get to her."

Feeling a sense of solidarity with Videl's father for the first time ever, Gohan managed a small smile. "Yeah...she's pretty great."

Mr. Satan's encouraging smile flipped into a frown. "Don't get carried away, or anything! You still can't have her until you've beaten me!"

'_We'll get to that later_,' Gohan thought to himself, shaking his head with the smile still on his face. '_Videl-san...hold on!_'

"'Niiiii-san!" 

Pried from his dreamworld of dramatic rescues and grateful damsels in distress, Gohan looked up into the sky to see Goten, Trunks and Mr. Buu approaching at an impressive speed. He unfolded his legs and climbed to his feet, dusting off the back of his costume as he did so, and waved the trio in.

Goten and Trunks both waved back and sped up with an extra burst of chi. "'Nii-san!" Goten shouted again, holding something up in his waving fist. "We found something!"

Gohan could feel his heart pumping blood faster than ever. Could this be the clue that broke the case? "What is it?" he asked as they landed, covering the space between them in three large steps.

Goten held it as high as he could above his head for Gohan's inspection. Even in doing so, the elder demi-Saiyan was forced to bend down to see it properly. "This!" Goten announced proudly, raising himself up on tip-toe.

"A...watch?" Gohan queried, lifting his sunglasses to see the item more clearly. "What does a watch have to do with anything?"

Trunks elbowed Goten in the ribs. "Show him, Goten," he commanded.

Wrapping it carefully around his wrist, Goten fastened it in place; it was loose, but not by too much. "Watch this!" 

Goten pressed a green button along the side of the face and, after a few seconds delay, a second Saiyaman was standing in his place!

The costume was the same as Gohan's original, but with a few minor alterations; the helmet, for instance, was mostly white instead of orange and had a little golden heart placed right in the middle of the forehead. The fabric of the body suit was the same stretchy material as his own, but the top layer was a slightly different color green and the cape was...well, more of a pink-ish orange than a red.

"Great, there are _two_ freaks who dress like you?" Mr. Satan said in his booming voice, scoffing as the transformation was revealed. He had his arms crossed over his chest in an impression of authority and Mr. Buu was doing the same.

"Two freaks!" Mr. Buu agreed, nodding sagely.

"Goten found it in Videl 'Nee-chan's desk drawer," Trunks reported, lifting up the wrist Goten was wearing the watch on. "Look, it has Mom's company logo on it."

Frowning at the tiny lettering that read "Capsule Corp," Gohan wondered aloud, "What could this mean...? Could someone have pretended to be Saiyaman to gain her trust and then kidnaped her?"

"I don't think so," Trunks replied, shaking his head. "The watch was in a jewelry box in the back of one of her drawers. What kind of idiot kidnapper would wrap it up and hide it before leaving?"

Goten bobbed his helmeted head up and down in agreement. "Yeah, that would be weird! Besides, 'Nee-chan wouldn't be fooled by this costume; it's way too small to be yours!" He flopped the sagging material around for emphasis.

"Sooo...," Mr. Satan interjected, coming closer to give the new clue the once over. "What's the point of the costume, then?"

"We're not sure...," Trunks admitted, shrugging. "But we thought it was pretty weird so we brought it to show Gohan-san."

The original Saiyaman was rubbing his chin, deep in thought. "I dunno...it's pretty strange, but it doesn't really tell us anything about who took Videl-san. Did you find anything else?"

Goten and Trunks swapped looks, frowning. Looking back to Gohan, Trunks answered for the both of them; "Not really...some of her clothes were missing from the closet, though. The hamper was empty, so they probably aren't in the laundry."

"Laundry day is on...erm...," Mr. Satan paused to think for a moment, his face bunched up in concentration. 

"Sunday," Mr. Buu answered for him.

Holding up an I-knew-it-all-along finger, Mr. Satan laughed. "Waha! That's right, Mr. Buu, I was just about to say the same thing!"

"Okay...," Gohan said, shifting his hand to the back of his neck in the hopes that another thinking pose might help. "So that means that the kidnapper, whoever he is, probably took some of Videl-san's clothes with him, as well. Why, though?"

"Maybe they're having a sleepover?" Goten suggested, smiling beneath the copied Saiyaman helmet. 

Trunks punched him in the arm. "You only have sleepovers with friends, stupid, not criminals!"

Goten rubbed the spot on his arm, sniffling a little. "Ow, that hurt, Trunks-kun..."

"Alright, boys, enough of that," Gohan commanded, more stern than usual. His mother would have been equally shocked and proud. "We're trying to figure out what happened to Videl-san so knock off the fighting, will you?"

Both boys looked cowed. "Sorry, 'Nii-san..."

"Sorry..."

"Okay," Gohan continued, lowering his glasses back over his eyes. "The thing about the clothes doesn't really help us, either, so maybe we should take that watch to Bulma-san and ask her if – "

Three of the five gathered jumped suddenly and turned to look towards the east. A fourth lifted his flabby head to the sky curiously.

Mr. Satan, startled by the behavior, raced around Gohan to place himself in front of the costumed teenager. "What is it? What's going on, boy?"

"Videl-san's chi...," Gohan replied, his eyes still trained on the eastern horizon. "It just spiked and went away. I felt it."

"Chi?" Mr. Satan repeated, face falling in confusion. "What the hell is this 'chi' crap? Is it another one of your tricks?"

"'Nii-san!" Goten suddenly shouted, pointing off in the same direction that everyone but Mr. Satan was looking in. "I felt it again!"

"I did, too, Goten," said Gohan, firing up his own chi in preparation to take to the air after the latest and most promising clue. "Let's go!"

The three demi-Saiyans took off in flashes of brightly-colored flames, leaving Mr. Satan behind on the ground looking more confused than ever. "Hey, wait!" he called to the empty atmosphere.

All three were gone, leaving nothing but identical trails of (what Mr. Satan assumed was) that chi-stuff they had been talking about.

Turning to Mr. Buu, the only companion he had left, the gargantuan World Champion shouted, "Come on, Mr. Buu! Let's follow them!"

"Follow them!" Mr. Buu agreed, throwing Mr. Satan onto his back. 

They took off after the others at high speed, Mr. Satan screaming, "Slow doooooooown!"

— — — 

"I'm coming, Videl-san!" Gohan shouted to no one in particular, taking his speed up another notch. Her chi was spiking again, reaching a level he had never felt her achieve before.

Goten and Trunks were lagging behind him, but managed to mostly keep up with the elder demi-Saiyan's fervor. 

Far behind them, Mr. Buu and his passenger could be seen catching up. "Hey! Come back here, boy!" Mr. Satan called, his booming voice only barely audible over the wind whistling past Gohan's ears. "Tell me what the hell's going on!"

Gohan was unwilling to yield to any of them. Videl was close and, if her fluctuating chi signature was any indication, she was in trouble!

"Hey, 'Nii-san!" Goten called, grabbing his brother's attention. "Doesn't this place look kinda familiar?"

Glancing around quickly, Gohan had to admit that it did. They were flying out over the ocean, but the small island chains below them were sprinkled in a way that the eldest demi-Saiyan knew quite well from his childhood and occasional visits throughout his adolescence.

Sure enough, as Gohan and the rest approached the source of Videl's chi, the KAME House came into view. Increasing his sensitivity to her power signature, the eldest demi-Saiyan locked onto the area around the tiny island inhabited by his father's childhood master and best friend's family.

"She's there!" Gohan announced, forcing himself to go even faster.

He was the first to touch down on the sandy beach and race for the front door, Goten and Trunks only a few paces behind. There was no immediate trace of Videl in the quiet front yard, so the demi-Saiyan trio made a beeline for the house. Behind them, Mr. Satan and Buu finally landed, the former shouting and cursing as loudly as ever; "Where the hell are we, boy? Where have you taken me?"

Gohan ignored him, finding himself growing quite adept at the skill (he imagined that this was how Videl managed to live with the buffoon) and, quite literally, ripped the screen door from its hinges. Holding it off to the side and out of his way, he shouted "VIDEL-SAN! Are you here?"

Number 18, one of Marron's unfinished pigtails still gathered in her right hand, stared at him with the usual blank expression she seemed to favor on most occasions. "She's out back," 18 reported, eyeing the detached door that Gohan was still clinging to by the knob.

Throwing the burdensome piece of wood and wire down outside, Gohan raced into the house, his entourage of sleuths in hot pursuit. It was a straight path between the front and back doors and, luckily for the home's inhabitants, the second was wide open, leaving no superficial barriers between the group and solving the mystery of the missing Videl.

Gohan thrust himself back outdoors at the same moment that Videl's chi spiked again, causing him to call out in alarm, "_Videl-san_!" 

" – _HA_!"

The shout was punctuated by an unnaturally strong gust of wind, backlash from the narrow beam of light that was carving a deep trench into the surface of the ocean. It stretched out as far as the human eye could see, turning the cold blue water below into clouds of hissing steam. It disappeared into the horizon, leaving no trace of it's trajectory behind but a couple of stunned seabirds.

"Man, Gohan was right," someone laughed from the shady area off to the side yard. "You really are a quick learner!"

Gohan's glasses slipped to the end of his nose, his eyes wide and surprised at what he had discovered. "V-Videl-san...?" 

Satan Videl was standing at the edge of the shore, waves licking her bare toes fondly as the glow of chi surrounding her dimmed to its normal invisible state. Her hands were cupped together and she was lowered into a fighting stance, panting a bit, but otherwise looking perfectly healthy.

Finally aware of Gohan's presence, Videl turned her head in his direction, brow furrowed in the curious expression she often used while she was still involved in unmasking the oh-so-mysterious Great Saiyaman. "Gohan-kun? What are you doing here?"

"M-Me?" Gohan asked, pointing to himself. Was she kidding? "What are _you_ doing here?"

Videl lowered her hands and took a more relaxed standing position as she wiped sweat from her face with the back of her forearm. With a blush, Gohan realized belatedly that she wasn't wearing a shirt, just a pair of her favorite shorts and a hot pink sports bra. "Training, what does it look like?"

Taking advantage of Gohan's lax state of shock, Mr. Satan shoved him out of the way and raced across the beach to Videl. Wrapping his arms around her in a gigantic bear hug, he lifted her off the ground and began sobbing. "My baby girl! You're safe! Do you have any idea how worried Daddy's been?"

Videl, struggling fiercely against her father's grasp, complained, "Daddy! Let me go, I can't _breathe_!"

Goten and Trunks, who had been piled up in the doorway behind Gohan, also made a break for the celebration on the beach. "'Nee-chan's okay!" Goten cried, tripping on the cape of the copied Saiyaman costume.

As the two youngsters attached themselves to her legs (one for each of them), Trunks cheered in victory. "Yeah! She wasn't kidnaped after all!"

"Hey, what's up, Gohan?" 

"Huh?" Gohan lowered his head to see Kurririn staring at him, hands comfortably stuffed into the pockets of his khakis and one eyebrow lifted questioningly. Muten Roshi stood next to him, leaning heavily on his walking stick and featuring the same expression as his former student. "Wh-What? Haven't you seen the news? Videl-san has been reported missing!"

"Missing!" Kurririn repeated, lifting both brows now. "She's been here since Friday afternoon! She wanted me to teach her how to shoot chi so we set up a little training weekend."

"That's right," Roshi corroborated, his mouth suddenly dropping open to allow drool to drain out. "We went to pick her up after school yesterday...ooh, yes..."

Kurririn quickly covered his former master's mouth with his hand, looking oddly nervous. "G-Gohan doesn't need to know about that! It's not like you saw anything, anyway!"

Gohan's mind suddenly flashed to the pile of clothing that had been left on Videl's floor, the evidence that had initially sparked concern over her welfare (and that they had all accidentally left behind to chase after Videl's chi signature). It seemed like _all_ of it was there, meaning that when Kurririn and Muten Roshi had gone to pick her up she could have been...

"Only because you were hogging the view for yourself!" Roshi accused, bopping Kurririn on the head with his staff after extricating himself from the silencing hold. 

Gohan's face flushed in a mixture of embarrassment and jealousy as he asked, "_What_ view?"

Kurririn held his hands up before him in a placating manner, waving them around in obvious hope that Gohan would take pity on him. "It was an accident, man! I swear!"

Roshi sighed wistfully, cheeks blushing pink as he began to fall back into his world of fantasy. "The sweetest mistake..."

"_Hey_!" Gohan shouted, taking a step toward the old man with fists clenched. He didn't care if the old man forgot his own name, but that mental image of Videl he was drooling over _would_ be removed from his memory...by force, if necessary.

"Gohan-kun!"

Gohan was distracted from his goal of restoring Videl's honor as samesaid person called his name. He turned her direction and found her still burdened with her father and the two boys, now pinned to the ground under the weight. 

"A little_ help_ would be nice!" she shouted, trying to pry her openly crying father's arms from her torso.

Quickly changing course, Gohan began jogging to her rescue. "R-Right! Coming, Videl-san!"

After a few disorienting minutes, Videl was finally free of the clutching grasp of her would-be rescuers. "Would somebody tell me what's going on?" she demanded, sidestepping her father as he made another lunge for a hug. Due to their close proximity, Videl was forced to grab onto Gohan as Mr. Satan barreled past them, sobbing and shouting about how happy he was she was alive. The rest of the group – Goten, Trunks, Kurririn, Muten Roshi and even a Marron-toting 18 – were gathered around the two teenagers, patiently waiting for a reasonable account of what was going on.

Gohan, feeling her half-nude body up against his own, felt the heat blooming in his cheeks again. Consciously keeping his hands where he was sure that everyone could see them, he explained, "Everyone thinks you've been kidnaped, Videl-san. We've been looking for you all day! Half the world's in a panic!"

"Huh?" she queried, looking up at him without bothering to let go of his arm. "Why would anybody report me missing? I _told_ Daddy where I was going!"

"You did _not_!" a sniffling Mr. Satan retorted, pointing an accusing finger in Gohan and Videl's direction. They both looked at him, one with curiosity and the other skepticism. "Daddy was so worried, pumpkin! You could have left a note, or...or something!"

Finally relinquishing Gohan in favor of placing her fisted hands on her hips, Videl countered, "I _did_! I put it in your den, right on your TV table! I also left you _three_ voicemails!"

Mr. Satan paused in his sniffling long enough to say, "...Oh. I thought that was fan mail and threw it away."

Every member of the group was silent for a few seconds, identical drops of comically-large sweat trickling down the sides of their faces. 

"Figures...," Videl said, sighing in exasperation as she wiped the perspiration away. "But that still doesn't explain why the whole world thinks that I've been _kidnaped_."

"Well, the shirt you left on your floor," Gohan began, glaring in Kurririn and Muten Roshi's direction. The former winced, the latter was unabashed. "Looked kinda like it had been stained in blood. The police automatically assumed foul play."

Videl rolled her eyes at that one. "I spilled _cranberry juice _on myself! It doesn't look anything _like_ blood!"

"Yeah, well, maybe if the police force in Satan City wasn't so lame they would've noticed that," Trunks commented with a snort of laughter.

"What about this, 'Nee-chan?" Goten queried, holding up the cape of the costume he was wearing for emphasis. 

It was Videl's turn to blush, for once. "It was supposed to be a surprise...," she muttered, looking pointedly away from Gohan. "I was saving it for Monday. And I would've kept it a secret, too, if it hadn't been for you meddling kids..."

Goten, who _still_ hadn't bothered to remove Videl's version of the Saiyaman costume, and Trunks both rubbed the backs of their necks sheepishly.

"Sorry, 'Nee-chan..."

"Yeah, oops..."

Videl's mock scowl relaxed into a greatly amused expression. "Well...I guess as long as you were trying to help me, it's okay."

Simultaneously, both boys grinned with relief. Goten, just to be sure, asked, "Really? You mean it?"

Videl laughed aloud at them both, her eyes squinted in mirth. "Yeah, you're forgiven. It's actually nice to know that you'd come looking for me if I were _really_ missing."

"Any time!" Trunks agreed, flashing her a thumbs up and a wink. Goten imitated him, making the gesture all the sillier. 

"D-Does that mean...," Gohan queried, calling Videl's attention back to himself. He was a bright shade of pink that the evil Majin Buu would have been proud to call his own. "You were saving it for our d-date?"

Videl crossed her arms and shrugged. "I thought we could, y'know, fight crime together, or something...or did you want to go to some crappy movie instead?" she asked, glancing up at Gohan from the corner of her eye. She wasn't as exaggeratedly embarrassed as Gohan was, but there was still a shy glow in the apples of her cheeks.

"N-No!" he replied, mimicking Kurririn's panicked hand movements from earlier. "Crime fighting sounds great! Lets' do that!"

Videl quirked a soft smile at Gohan's expense. "You're cute when you're nervous, Gohan-kun."

"R-Really...?"

Reaching out for Videl's backside with a sly hand, Muten Roshi commented, "You know what else is pretty cute...?"

With a shift of mood so quick that even Chi-Chi would have been given whiplash, Videl's expression changed to one of hard ferocity. "Touch me again, you old perv, and I'll shove your groping hands down your throat!"

"Ooh, feisty! I like tha – _AUGH_!"

— — — 

"I'd like to take this opportunity to apologize to the world for my behavior over the past couple of days," Videl said, looking earnestly into the cameras. "I didn't mean to concern anyone and I feel terrible about doing so. I'm also sorry to the police force for wasting so many of their man hours searching for me when I wasn't, in fact, missing." She paused for a moment and allowed the flashbulbs to go off in her face without complaint.

"Lastly," she continued, adopting a sincere expression of regret. "I'd like to apologize to my father, Mr. Satan, for neglecting to tell him about my plans for the weekend and making him worry. It was all a terrible misunderstanding and I feel completely responsible; please forgive me."

Hands flew into the air as reporters scrambled to ask her questions. "Videl-san! Please, tell us, were you in danger at any time over the course of your disappearance?"

"No, of course not," Videl replied. "It was all a misunderstanding, like I said. I was perfectly safe the whole time."

She called on another waving hand and another question followed. "Where were you over the weekend, Videl-san?"

"I was at my good friend, Son Gohan's, house studying for midterms. They're coming up next week."

"Videl-san!"

"Videl-san, look this way!"

"Videl-san, just one more question!"

"You look good on TV," Gohan commented, resting his chin on his hands as he watched his new girlfriend perform in front of the reporters on the jumbo screen in the middle of Satan Square. The footage of Videl's press conference following her safe recovery had been on an almost continuous loop for the previous forty-eight hours, reassuring everyone within the viewing area that she was, in fact, perfectly fine.

"Thanks," Videl replied, swinging her legs to and fro over the side of the building they were sitting on. She was decked out in her new Saiyaman Number Two uniform, matching Gohan almost perfectly in miniature. The visor on her helmet was lifted, allowing a perfect view of her face.

Gohan's sunglasses were, similarly, out of his way and perched on top of his head. "Oh, and thanks for letting everyone know that I didn't kidnap you. Mom was beginning to worry that they were going to storm the house soon if you didn't turn up..."

"No problem, Gohan-kun," she said, grinning at him. "So, how's this for a first date?"

Gohan responded with a grin of his own. "Better than 'some crappy movie,' hands down."

Videl extended her face upwards, her lips softly puckered, and Gohan leaned down to meet her halfway. Their lips touched for a few lingering seconds and they both broke away, pleased with the tingling results of their first "real" kiss. 

A couple seconds later, however, an obnoxious beeping noise ruined the romantic moment. Gohan moved back, allowing Videl to bring her watch communicator up to her mouth so that she could respond to the call unhindered. "This is Saiyaman Number Two."

"Vid – er, Saiyaman Number Two! There's a bank robbery at Satan First National! Please hurry!" a voice infused with static cried from the tiny speakers in her wristwatch.

"We're on our way," Videl replied, reaching up to flip the visor on her helmet down to its identity-hiding position (as if it mattered).

Gohan followed suit by lowering his glasses and, standing, offered his hand to his new partner in hero work. "Let's go, Number Two."

"Let's!" Videl replied, taking the proffered hand.

Together, they jumped from the rooftop and blazed towards the crime scene, twin trails of white chi running parallel to one another as they flew.

THE END

(Seriously; no more!)

— — — 

**Authors Notes:** I didn't want to post this until Friday (since that's about the time ppl decide that the time is ripe to go read themselves some fanfiction), but I'm going to the beach tomorrow and I have NO idea if I'll have internet access while I'm there. Since I won't be in a position to post again until Monday, I decided not to make y'all wait (assuming anyone cares about the ending, of course **n.n;** ). 

Aside from the crappy title, this story turned out pretty good, I think. It didn't end up being quite as funny as I had originally imagined it, but...oh, well. The sweetness is the same ('specially right at the end). And the pervy elements are as deliciously awkward/embarrassing as ever...**n.n** (Couldn't resist, I really couldn't.)

Btw, anybody notice the parallels between Gohan and Videl's first date and Goku and Chi-Chi's? **n.n**

Well, that's the end! If you noticed anything – and I mean _anything, _whether it be a plot hole the size of a pin prick or one that you could drive a tanker truck through – that doesn't seem quite right in this story, _please_, for the love of any god(s) you happen to worship, tell me! I've never written mystery before and, if I'm ever going to learn, I NEED to know where I'm weak just like I need to know where I'm strong. Any and all help you could provide as an impartial reader would be _greatly_ appreciated by this author (no flames, though; constructive criticism only!).

_**. ( . Ms Videl Son . ) . **_

– _Who's your daddy? GohanVidel_

— — — 

_**Next Chapter...**_NOTHING! HA! (Sorry, that was mean...hehe.)


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